


Just Business

by UpsetPapaya (orphan_account)



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, College, College AU, F/M, Hinata - Freeform, Romance, naruto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:11:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/UpsetPapaya
Summary: Hinata vowed to her father she'd take over their family business - but when Hinata's father suggests Hanabi inherit, Hinata goes off to college to work hard for her degree in Business Management. Once there, Hinata meets a certain blond-haired man who's just going with the flow. A loud, uncoordinated mess of a man who just wants to help others and a quiet, precise woman who just wants to inherit the family business. Maybe they can learn something from each other.





	Just Business

Dropping the blue-rimmed picture frame into the box, Hinata spun on her cool heels to grab her next object. Hinata was driving off to college today, something she wasn't only excited for, but nervous, too. Slender hands wrapped around a phone charger, yanking it from and ground and placing it no-so-neatly into the one box Hinata had planned to take with her. She'd already planned most of this, only taking what she needed and a few changes of clothes.

"You know she's not going to do well," a muffled, masculine voice arose, only that of her father. Stopping in her tracks, Hinata's brows furrowed, sobering her up from the excitement of college. Taking a step towards the door, Hinata relaxed her breathing and strained her ears to hear.

"Shh. She's going to do fin-" another voice came, more feminine. Her mother, she assumed, though the wall did prove debilitating. Hinata wondered what they were going on about, but the sly words that filled Hinata's ears next gave rise to a boiling anger that spread throughout her body.

"Come on! We all know Hanabi will excel much farther than Hinata ever will. There's no use even sending her-" Slamming the door open, Hinata thrust herself between her mother and father, holding a finger up accusingly. Hinata knew her father had been thinking of this for a while. It was the main reason she was going to college for Business Management! Color seemed to drain from the older man's face, making him seem older at that moment than ever before. The cracks and lines of age proved prominent now.

"Don't give up on me yet," Hinata hissed, shocking herself at the amount of envy and fire that entwined throughout her words. Why was she so bothered by this? "Don't give up on me, _father_ ," Hinata followed slowly, emphasizing the word _father_ with a softer and more sorry tone. The interactions proved sharp since nobody spoke. The blade that was her dialogue sliced the atmosphere into an uneasy, broken awkwardness. The only sound you could hear is the slender, noir-haired woman turning on her heels, her face red with embarrassment. She darted into the depts of her room where Hinata's cool hands lifted the box from her bed and left the exact same way she came, through the door she had burst through only moments before. Walking past her parents, whose heads hung low, she glided less than confident now through the front door to her familiar black car.

Unlocking the car while holding the box proved difficult, but she accomplished her goal. Hinata pulled open the trunk and practically threw the box into the back, embarrassed by what she had just done She shut the trunk with that same energy, slipping into the front seat and releasing a sigh she didn't know she contained. Hinata had never seen that side of her before. Envy and anger proved deadly for anyone around her, it seems. She made note that she hated that. Contrary to belief, Hinata was a soft-spoken girl who planned her moves meticulously -- never one to do what she had just done. Starting her car, Hinata let another sigh go before putting her car into reverse and backing out of the driveway to her childhood home.

\--

Placing her parking break on, Hinata pulled the key from the ignition and shoved the rough metal into her pocket. She glanced over to the passenger's seat, noticing the blue glow of her phone. Reaching over with long, pale fingers, she shut the phone on to reveal that there was a missed call and a missed message. Both from her father. _I'm sorry, Hinata._  It read simply. She felt too embarrassed to respond.

Shutting the phone off, Hinata placed it opposite of her keys and stepped out of her car, ignoring the disappointment she had for herself for reacting the way she did. She loved her father, but he didn't think she was fit to run the family business. Hinata shut down her thoughts once more, opening the trunk of her gleaming black car to pull out the box she had taken away with. Awkwardly shutting the trunk door, Hinata turned to what seemed to be the only entrance for the girl's dorms in miles. Taking cool steps there, she couldn't help but let her mind explore the possibility of excitement again.

Again, those thoughts were shut down. Not by herself, but because she and a man collided, tearing her from her thoughts. The clacking sounds of Hinata's things hitting the concrete was enough to make anyone cringe, so when she looked up, she seemed almost apologetic. She mentally beat herself up. So distracted that she ended up hurting someone else or wasting their time! Both people sat on the ground. Depths of blue met hers and she quickly looked away, wondering why things were not going her way today.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... Look, let me help-" The man started, blubbering and quickly picking up everything that fell. He placed them as neatly as he could into the box, something that contrasted from the man's height and size. The short blonde hair that rippled in the wind proved mesmerizing for Hinata, but instead, she turned to her things and began picking them up, too.

As they finished, both the noir-haired woman and the blond man rose to their feet, and Hinata truly saw how tall he was. She admired that for a second, her eyes wandering from feature to feature, from whisker to whisker, and so on. The man bent down and grabbed Hinata's box. A goofy smile appeared on his face, making Hinata all that more comfortable now than moments before.

"Thank you," Hinata said softly, a faint glow only barely visible on her cheeks. Turing to bright man, she attempted to take the box back from him but was met with tightening arms and an odd look on his face.

"I'm carrying it for you," the whiskered-man spoke, humor intwining into his words and letters. Hinata thought about protesting this, but what did she have to lose? She didn't know how to get to her dorm, either...

"Can you tell me how to get to my dorm at 221b?" Hinata spoke again, her mellifluous but very soft voice filling the man's ears. He only nodded at the moment, carrying a box for a girl he'd smashed into only moments before. The pair approached an alternate door Hinata had not seen, and upon entering, it was clear why. Freshmen, like Hinata, had crowded the only visible door from the inside out. Hinata was glad in that moment for the blond man, following him aimlessly as he walked down the hallway and up and flight of stairs. When they finally arrived, Hinata stuck her cool keys into the door and with some force, she opened it. Hinata motioned for the man to come in so he could put her things down. When he did, he stepped back out and turned to Hinata again.

"See you around, freshman," he said, spinning on his heels with a comfortable friendship neither knew existed. Partially, Hinata expected the trip up to her door to get awkward, proving silence on the business dorm's floor. Amazingly, it never came with him, and Hinata valued that quite a bit right now.

Pushing the thoughts of the cute upperclassmen from her head, Hinata focused on her work, pulling things out of her box and laying them down the hard bed. Her fingers wrapped around the picture frame, pulling it from the bed and placing it softly onto the worn out nightstand. She then moved her charger next to it. Pulling out around three different oddball mugs, she placed them in her cabinet with a swift movement. Hinata ran her fingers along the rim of the box before plunging to its depths and pulling out a few different articles of clothing. Moving the box off the bed, Hinata laid out the clothes neatly, reviewing what she had brought. One purple jacket, two black shirts, one pair of jeans, one pair of dark purple pants, black vans, and a black dress. Hinata slipped each article of clothing onto a hanger and placed them into the empty, dusty closet. Hinata glanced into the box to make sure nothing remained and was surprised when she found nothing more.

Hinata collapsed into her bed. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, clicking it on to see the text message from earlier and a notification from Instagram. Sliding open the notification, she glanced over it quickly, _NarutoUzumaki Has requested to follow you._  Then, another popped up seconds later. _NarutoUzumaki: Saw your name on your box. Not too creepy, right?"_  Hinata clicked open this guy's profile, seeing the familiar face from earlier. She scrolled quickly through, seeing photos of a noir-haired man, pinkett, and an older, silver-haired man standing alongside the tall blond. His name fits him, though. Goofy.

Hinata accepted the follow and followed him back, swiping to open the dm. She glanced over the message again before responding. She thought out her message well. She typed a few responses, deleting them, then writing more before deciding on something that seemed harmless enough. _HinataHyuugaaa: Not at all. You know any good food places?_ Hinata sent. The message took a few moments to send before a 'Seen' marker appeared and another message appeared. _NarutoUzumaki: Yeah. There's a ramen street a few blocks down from the dorms. Big bright red sign. Need me to send the directions from google?_ Hinata smiled to herself, typing back slowly, again, planning her message. _HinataHyuugaaa: Yeah. That'd be nice._ Hinata then received directions, punching them into google and trusting their path.

The walk there was no problem. Looking up, she quickly identified the sign Naruto was referring to and pushed open the glass doors to the restaurant. The smell of ramen made her mouth water. Sliding into a booth seat alone, she waited for a server to come, looking at the menu. She chose to try miso ramen, something she'd never really tried before. Ramen, sure. Miso, sure. But them together?

"You came!" A man said, drawing Hinata's attention from her menu. The blond man- Naruto, wore a black apron and a glint in his eye. Hinata cocked her head slightly before connecting the dots. She cleared her throat.

"You work here?" She asked, her voice softer than the last time they'd spoke, two hours ago. Hinata's face warmed and she avoided eye contact with Naruto. Naruto nodded, and when Hinata looked up, he was giving a brilliant smile. He was always doing that. Hinata gave a shy smile, pulling out her phone. Pointing to it, she spoke softly, trying to keep the conversation alive. "I see you found me," she said, referring to the Instagram messages. Naruto's arm flew up and over, scratching his shoulder blade with a mischevious look.

"You're the one with the name on the box, _Hyuuga,_ " Naruto said, bantering with the girl he had met only today. Hinata gave a more friendly smile now. Though they seemed like opposites, where Hinata wore cool, dark colors and Naruto wore warm, bright colors, Hinata hoped they would click in a way only a few people clicked. Hinata instantly knew she wanted to befriend the loud man, but didn't know how.

"Get some food and come sit," Hinata said softly, avoiding eye contact and pointing to her choice on the menu. Naruto nodded, giving a half-hearted smile before darting off into the kitchen. Hinata smiled to herself, thinking she should thank the tall man for keeping her mind away from darker thoughts and preventing the thoughts of _Will I make friends here?_  -- which every college kid suffers through.

Hinata clicked open her phone, feeling much more forgiving now. She responded to her father's message with _It's okay. Sorry too._  Hinata turned off the phone, planning on relaxing with her new friend and indulging in a new food. As Hinata placed her phone in her pocket, she looked up to see Naruto walking her way, carrying two bowls. Naruto looked up at Hinata and smiled, and that's all it took.

Moments later, ramen was sprawled across the floor and on Naruto, too. Hinata's eyes widened as she slipped out from her booth chair and moved over to Naruto, who was crying. Hinata's brows dipped anxiously as she watched the scene, and before she could ask if he was okay, he spoke.

"MY RAMEN!" He wailed, everyone in the restaurant looking at them. Hinata's cheeks heated up with the new found attention. She took a step back before sinking into her booth chair again, too embarrassed to move.

 


End file.
